No Fresh Injury Worries for Leinster

The Leinster squad trained at UCD on Monday afternoon and head coach Joe Schmidt has reported no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to Swansea this Sunday to face the Ospreys (kick-off 5pm).

Aside from the usual bumps and bruises, second row duo Trevor Hogan and Ed O'Donoghue both successfully came through last Friday's bonus point 27-6 victory over the Dragons and are in contention for selection.

Shane Horgan scored his 63rd and 64th career tries in a man-of-the-match display at the RDS, which also marked the Boyne man's 190th Leinster appearance.

Isaac Boss touched down for his second try in 10 appearances to date, while Shaun Berne continued his comeback from an Achilles injury with a 75-minute shift in which he too scored a try.

The team and replacements to face the Ospreys is expected to be announced on Friday afternoon.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's game, Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt said that the squad are determined to build on their recent good run of results against a strong Ospreys side.

"We're expecting an even tougher test this weekend. They got a win against Connacht in the last minute which was obviously a pretty good performance considering Connacht weren't too far from (being) full strength," he said.

"We found them a very tough nut to crack when we were in Galway a few weeks ago so, for the Ospreys to have done that is a very good effort.

"They've got some real talent in their young guys whom they have recently given game time in the LV= Cup so they might add something that we don't know so much about.

"We had a few bumps and bruises (out of the victory over the Dragons), but that is pretty much it and we're hopeful that those guys will be available at the end of the week.

"We have a nine-day turnaround so we've got enough time to get anyone with bumps and bruises back on their feet."

Schmidt added: "The last few wins are not just about (being good for) confidence. It's about points on the table.

"Ulster went away and got a really good win against Cardiff and that allowed them to stay in front of us. The Ospreys got their win in Connacht.

"So if you're not winning, then you're going to be very quickly behind the eight-ball and chasing. We want to try and get some kind of established break and make it into the top four."

Looking forward to facing England on Sunday, Ireland winger Tommy Bowe said: "We've trained very well this week, we're really excited about the game. It's about going out there and doing whatever we can to get ourselves that win."

Second row Devin Toner previews Ireland's crunch RBS 6 Nations clash with England, saying: "It's a pretty formidable English pack. Attwood and Kruis have played fantastically well. They're well drilled and focused and their scrum and lineout are very good."

Looking forward to facing England this weekend, Ireland back rower Sean O'Brien said: "It's obviously exciting, but it's one game at a time. I don't think there's any more pressure on us than in the first two games. That's the way you have to look at it."

Irish Rugby TV sat down with Ireland Under-20 scrum coach John Fogarty to talk about the U-20 Six Nations so far and Friday's clash with England at Donnybrook. Tickets are on sale on www.ticketmaster.ie.

Shane Byrne and Malcolm O'Kelly preview the Ireland v England Legends match which takes place at Donnybrook this coming Saturday (kick-off 7.30pm). Tickets are available from www.ticketmaster.ie. All proceeds from the game will go to support the IRFU Charitable Trust and the RFU All Schools Charity.

Watch highlights from the Ireland team announcement press conference as Joe Schmidt reveals the team to play France. Peter O'Mahony says it is good to 'have some big figures back' for Saturday's clash.